Choose A Camera With The Right Number of Mega Pixels
When you get to the stage when you simply must buy a new digital camera, one of the things that commonly confronts us is what amount of mega pixels is best. Many of you have your own personal beliefs when it comes to buying a digital camera and accordingly this article is intended to give you better insight, not to establish a ‘be all and end all’ statement on exactly how many pixels you must have when you buy a digital camera.
A some what race for mega pixels has started and there is no way to stop it. Every few months cameras with more pixels hit the market. The manufacturers want you to dump your old camera and buy the newest and greatest one after all aren’t 10 mega pixels better than just 8? Apparently the answer is not that simple.
Just like many other things when it comes to mega pixels more is not necessarily better. There are many considerations when buying a camera and the number of mega pixels is just one of them.
You should also consider usage. More mega pixels are good for people who plan to print photos (especially enlargements) or for people who need to zoom in and grab fine details from a big photo. If the main usage of the photos is watching them on your computer screen and maybe printing a few 4X6 prints than 2 mega pixels is more than enough (yes… just 2). Most screen resolutions are 1024X768 so even when viewing the photo in full screen mode you can only view 1024X768 < 1 mega pixels. A 2 mega pixels 4X6 photo print will have a DPI higher than 300 which is more than enough for a good quality print.
When plan to use your photos for enlargements than a rule of thumb is to be able to print at least 300DPI resolution. The following is a table for different print sizes and the needed mega pixels for such print quality:
page 4X6 2MP
page 5X7 3MP
page 8X10 7MP
page 11X14 14MP
page 16X20 28MP
page 20X30 54MP
A practical consideration is price and budget: Usually the more mega pixels the more expensive the camera is. Unless your budget is infinite when buying a camera you make a compromise between mega pixels and other features. For example is it better to spend money on more mega pixels or on better lenses? Or maybe instead of getting the latest number of mega pixels get an external flash for low light photography? When buying a camera try to predict what and how you will use it. In many cases a lower mega pixels sensor with better a lens will result in a much better photo than a high mega pixels with an inferior lens. Shop around and make sure that you get the best package in terms of mega pixels and other features.
In conclusion, when you go shopping to buy a digital camera, it is best not to be a victim of the mega pixels race. Although it is generally a good thing to have a high number of pixels there are many other factors that influence the quality of the photos taken and the choice of the right camera for you. Lenses, battery life, light sensitivity, sensor technology used, external flash and many other features are not less important as the number of mega pixels. When shopping for a camera make sure that you consider the whole package and not use the number of mega pixels as a “quality” indicator for your buy.Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com – a site dedicated to photo printing.
You can gain more knowledge at Profitable Photography Business. It’s dedicated to coaching you in starting your own photography business but places a strong emphasis on profitability issues & guidelines. You can also gain many photography resources (some free) from Photography Equipment & Resources
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Jack Harper
I own a Canon Rebel 6.1 megapixel and I’ve made enlargements as big as 24″x36″, super sharp and saturated. The key is the software, not the mega-pixels. These prints were made with 250+ meg files, resized on Photoshop.
August 26th, 2006 at 8:02 pmHenri Karrour
Invited to a ‘too busy studio’ as a freelance to help with portrait and did bring my Canon 20D (8 Mega pixels).
Two photographers were busy setting up. One had a phase one P45 (39 Megapixels) and the other photographer a P30 ( I think ). Both with Hasselblad lenses.
They look at my Canon gear with a smile.. And their shots were astonishing.. What more can I say ?
I do use CS2 and shoot always in raw format exclusively, but my shots were far away, quality wise, from the ones taken by the phase one cameras.
August 27th, 2006 at 4:06 amDennis
G’day there Folks,
I have been using a Fujifilm Finepix S5500 for almost a year and have made quite few 8″ x 10″ prints and 16″ x 20″ award winning prints.
The camera has 4MP!
This blows your theory and the table above right out of the water in my ‘umble opinion. Perhaps a re-write is in order?
God bless you and yours,
Dennis
August 27th, 2006 at 4:09 ammark
another way to get a bigger image is to take a panorama say 2 across 2 high ( or more ) and stitch with automatic stitching software or better manually through Gimp or photoshop cs / photoshop elements , to buy a very high Mp camera it will cost $5000+ , buy a 4mp camera for a few hundred and use free software to stitch to get a bigger print when and if you want it
August 27th, 2006 at 5:15 amTom Danyluk
I investigated the digital camera market for some time before I made my purchase and when the prices were more compatible with my wallet and I always used the money I made from my photos to upgrade my equipment. I asked a lot of questions from different dealers as to what different cameras could provide for my choice of photography. I was concerned about how much mega pixil I would need because of how large I planned to blow up the photo. I was surprised to find out that a lot depended on the lens. I ended up purchasing the Nikon d70s with several choice lenses some by Nikon and some by Tamron. I haven’t looked back. Now I’m looking higher because there has been bigger advancements in digital since I bought mine.
August 27th, 2006 at 10:27 amDani'el
I have a new Canon Powershot A530 5MP and made a 8×10 print of portrait I took of my wife and it came out great! I aslo did a 8×10 of another portrait I took with a Fuji FinePix 2800 3MP and that even came out very sharp and clear, in fact, a friend of mine who I consider very knowledgeable in photography could not believe that the portrait taken with the Fuji was actually taken with a digital camera! He is hard core film camera only!
August 28th, 2006 at 4:56 amjanet cooper
Hi Roy this site is very interesting, I am starting to get back into the photography again. I am trying to start up my own business. i am reading up to find out what kind of equipment I can start out with I have some equipment but I need more. also I need more reading regarding digital cameras. Any advice you can give I would appreaciated it. Thanks
August 28th, 2006 at 3:11 pmchucks
Hi Roy,
August 29th, 2006 at 11:29 amYour publication is very interesting.You are pushing me into photo world,I meaning being a proffessional photographer.I have a cannon AE1 programme. It is not a digital camera, but I want to own one so that I can get started.I love photography and desire to make the best out of it.Please how i do get started?
chucks
Hi Roy,
August 29th, 2006 at 11:43 amPlease help me locate the best digital camera to purchase.How much,and how to make payment, when, where and how to receive it ?
maddy
Hi Roy,
September 5th, 2006 at 2:57 pmPlease help me locate the best digital camera to purchase.How much,and how to make payment, when, where and how to receive it ?
Betty hinson
I want ot start taking pcitures of the dogs I groom at my grooming s hop any suggestions of camera and wher eyou can purchse backdrops of different scenes?
September 9th, 2006 at 10:00 pm